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We Are the World: The Story Behind the Song (E)

March 12 2005, 12:00am, The Times

Stars: Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder

Out to buy: On DVD

Much hilarity abounds on this documentary revisiting the night that America’s most bankable pop faces recorded their own famine relief number. With so many stars in the same room, it’s a minute-to-minute delight to see how they interact with each other.

Mustering every available molecule of diplomacy, the producer Quincy Jones informs Michael Jackson that his idea for an “experimental” chorus of made-up ethnic-type words is, actually, rubbish. Poor old Bob Dylan seems to have absolutely no idea what to do with himself — not least when Al Jarreau pays “tribute” to a mortified Harry Belafonte by getting everyone to sing Banana Boat Song at him. It’s good to know that when one celebrity sees another for…

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